The Large Shield repelled the fangs of the giant snake that aimed at the Axe Warrior.

''Hii!''

　The axe man unconsciously stumbled to his feet and saw a purple-haired swordsman standing over him as if to protect him. The mouth opens and the axeman is told simply: "Stay back.

"Stay back.

Yes, sir.

　Waiting for the axe man to flee from the spot with his hoarse body, the purple-haired swordsman held up his sword.

''Sorry to keep you waiting, shall we play one then?

　Despite his light tone, the purple-haired swordsman faced the giant snake with a serious expression on his face, not letting his guard down.
　As the purple-haired swordsman was about to launch his sword attack at the right moment, the giant snake suddenly began to crawl around.

　When Hanslick and the others looked to see what was going on, they saw that the snake's body was torn open and a large amount of blood was gushing out.
　Hanslick and his friends were stunned, unable to follow the scene in front of them, when the body of the snake was torn open again.

''Wha, what ......?''

　When Hanslick groaned and looked away, he saw a blonde woman slashing at a rampaging snake with a sword in her hand while lightly dodging its body.

　The woman moved around the snake with gorgeous body movements, as if she were dancing.
　With each step she took, the snake's body was being chopped up and covered in blood.

　Her beautiful blonde hair fluttered and danced lightly, and it would be more appropriate to describe it as a sword dance than a battle.
　Hanslick and his teammates were transfixed by the beauty of the dance, forgetting the situation.

　The purple-haired swordsman cracked the snake's head, which began to fade, and that was the final blow.

　As Hanslick and the others gasped for breath, the purple-haired swordsman who had delivered the final blow began to shout at the blonde female swordsman, "Hey, Helena!

'Hey, Helena!　Don't take my prey without permission!

'Oh, dear, don't be a quiet one. Isn't it your job to protect those children and my job to hunt the lacter?

'Shut up!　I told you I'm good enough for Ractor on my own!

'Didn't you hear Michelle tell you to put protecting the children ahead of defeating Lactor?　It's a bit of a surprise.

What?

'Yes, yes, that's it. Clente and Helena both did a great job. It's nice to have a fight, but you'll get it later.

　A voice comes from within the bushes, clapping its hands with a pang.

　Following the voice was an elderly woman with dark blue hair pulled back.
　The purple-haired and blonde swordsmen began to argue without looking at Hanslick and the other students, but when the woman interceded, they obediently obeyed.

　Three men appeared behind the woman. All of them were armed, and it was immediately apparent that they were mercenaries.

''d*mn it!　This was my chance to show off my skills!

　The purple-haired swordsman called Clente stepped on the ground in frustration.

'That's not what I'm saying. You have done your job well. I think it's better to be a man who is able to protect what should be protected than a single cell that just runs into the enemy, but you're not?

'Mm, if you say so: ......

　Passing through the clente, which seemed to be a maze-like place, the elderly woman stepped out in front of Hanslick and the others.

'Are you hurt?　I thought it was none of my business, but I didn't like what I saw, so I decided to give it a shot. I had to mess with them a little bit.

　After being saved from their predicament, Hanslick and his men were protected by Klente and his men.

　Clente and his men are just as mercenary as they look.
　The first woman, who introduced herself as Michelle, a peddler, told them that she had hired Clente and the other five as her bodyguards and was leaving the forest.

　Along the way, she explained that she saw a young mercenary - who apparently looked like a mercenary to Michelle - struggling and decided to lend a hand.

　At first, Michelle was friendly to him, saying that if he needed something, such as a cure, he would give it to her at the market price.
　However, when she found out that Hanslick and the others were students and that they were not strong enough to defeat the Twin Swordsmen, she suddenly became bitter.

You don't teach them the word 'worthy' in your school?　How did you come up with the idea of entering this forest with a strength that can't even beat a twin-sword beast?

So you think you can beat a double-bladed beast?

　Michelle snickered at Hanslick, who couldn't help but argue, and said with a snort.

'Don't be an idiot. I'm a peddler.　It's my job to ply my trade, not fight. But I know what I can do, and I understand the dangers of this forest. That's why you have five of your best men working for you, isn't it? That's what I call knowing yourself. If you guys had a bodyguard, you wouldn't be saying this. If you had a bodyguard, but was attacked by a monster, that's understandable. But you guys underestimated this forest and didn't even hire a bodyguard. Where is there room to defend them?

　Even though they knew that Michelle's words were so blunt, Solte and the others were depressed.

　Hanslick is the only one who is not convinced.
　It's a good thing that you can't get away with it.

　He was always at the top of the class from the time he entered the school.
　When he held a sword, he was as skilled as the school's instructors, and it was even said that he was already as competent as a member of the Imperial Guard.

　He had never made a failure that seemed to be a failure until now, but he would never want to admit the result this time.
　Moreover, he has been disrespected by a mere peddler. His pride must be torn to shreds.

　Solte spoke to Michel from the side.

'As you say, we were too optimistic in our outlook.

　We happened to be lucky enough not to be attacked by the beast before we came here, but that luck wouldn't necessarily continue until we passed through the forest from now on.
　Of course, if we were attacked, it was clear that we wouldn't be able to get through on our own.

''I'm sorry to have to rely on you, but would you be willing to let me stay with you until we get through the forest?''

　If that was the case, the safest choice would be to follow Michelle and her group, which had the ability to fight the beasts of the forest.
　What Solte said was a conclusion that the girls had arrived at as a matter of necessity.

The first thing you need to do is to take the five of you with you.　What do you think, Helena?　Is that going to work?

It's impossible. It would be difficult for us to protect all six of us, including Michelle, on our own. Unless you're willing to sacrifice one or two people, then that's a different story.

　The blonde swordsman answered immediately.
　Contrary to her impersonal face, she was a striking woman with long blonde hair that glistened in the sunshine and slightly pointed ears peeking out from it.

　She wears silvery white leather armor. She does not carry a shield and carries two rather short double-edged swords at her waist.
　She was probably in her late twenties at the time of her age.
　But as far as Michelle consults him, he may be the leader of the mercenaries.

''We have learned some self-defense techniques as well. We may not be able to fight, but at least we can slow them down--''

　Helena interrupts Sorte's words and says

You say so, but as long as we don't have confidence in our ability to protect you, we can't put your original target of protection, Michelle-san, in danger. Besides, you are not trained to be protected, are you?

Are you training to be protected ......?

Yes. It's a lot easier for us to escort both of you, Michelle, than it is for any one of you.

What's that supposed to mean?

　After a beat, Helena answers Solte's question.

''Just as there are skills to protect people, there are skills for the person being protected. After understanding the placement of the enemy, allies, and the surrounding terrain, the guards will change their positions so that they can move easily. If the situation becomes unfavorable, maintain a ready position to retreat quickly. Above all, you must have the mental strength to maintain a level head in the face of changing circumstances. These things cannot be acquired overnight without training and experience. Michelle has experienced many battles in her life. Even if you have never fought in a battle, you are no different from us in terms of the number of battles you have seen. That's why she knows how to get out of our way in the battlefield and how to help us protect ourselves.

Oh, well, flattery won't raise your escort fee.

　Michelle laughed caricaturally beside me.

'I'm not trying to be flattering. It's a fact. Michelle-san is extremely easy to escort.''

No, we haven't been trained to protect ourselves in that way. But we are well-trained to defend ourselves.

'I think you're still mistaken, so let me explain. The hardest targets for protectors are children and animals. Do you know why?

Is it ...... because they don't do what you say?

'Mostly correct. Then what do you think is the next hardest person to protect?

'Well, and .................., aren't they just ordinary people without the power to fight?'

No, sir. Of course, guarding civilians is hard, too. Of course, guarding civilians is also difficult, but the hardest thing to protect are those who think they can fight without any ability. Ordinary people know they can't fight, so they don't go to the enemy, but people who think they can fight will waste our efforts and jump into danger on their own. In fact, their quality is worse than that of a helpless ordinary person. I'm talking about you guys.

It's .......

Of course, it's a different story if you really have the ability to defend yourself. However, it's not very convincing if it takes five people to defeat the most vulnerable double-sworded beasts in this forest. Well, in any case, it's too risky for the five of us to escort six people through the forest,

　Sorte said nothing more.
　Because the very statement that they can protect themselves is like being pointed out as an increased idea that they still don't know what to do with themselves.

　But there was one person who couldn't keep quiet about it. Hanslick.

'What?　You're going to abandon us like this!

　Hanslick's abusive language confused the four students.
　It was unimaginable from their usual atmosphere of confidence.

''How can this little boy be so stupid, after running into the dangerous forest on his own?

　The purple-haired swordsman laughs as he teases Hanslick.

'Don't do it, Clente!　It's not very mature!

　Michelle blamed it on her.

Okay. So, what do you want to do?

We're stuck with it. You're going to wake up too late if you leave your children behind. Helena, I'm sorry to break it to you, but will you stay here with me?

Who are we?

Klenthe and his men will go through the forest to Trier to call for help. If you give me 20 gold coins up front, there will be 40 or 50 men there.

'What about Michelle and the others?　Helena, you can't even get to the amulet on your own, can you?

I'll just find an empty cave and hole up in it. It's a bit of a waste, but as long as we burn some animal repellent at the entrance, we can get away with it for four days or so. There's enough food and water to last until you guys come back.

"Hmm ......, is that better than dragging the boys all over the place ....... All right, let's get on with it then!　First we have to find a cave!

　Thus, until Clente and the other mercenaries returned, Michelle, Helena, Hanslick and the rest of the seven were left to wait in the cave for help.